Tonight we premiere the first in a two part series on a young boy who embarked on a mission to raise funds for a charity. Rowan Garel's face can be seen in many superstores across the country, on tip jars, that are labeled for the Belize Council for the Visually Impaired. Garel, not even in his teens, decided that he would go to the Cockscomb Basin and have his voice heard from the majestic Maya mountain range. News Five's Cameraman Alex Ellis accompanied the youth and his father, Joe, as they spent two days climbing Belize's most famous mountain top.
Alex Ellis, Reporting
Standard five student, Rowan Garel, stands out because he's blind. But Garel, only twelve, is about to do what few adults have accomplished; that is climb to the second highest summit in Belize-Victoria Peak.
Rowan Garel
Rowan garel
"Well the B.C.V.I. lost some major sponsors so we were just trying to think of something to do to raise funds and we thought of climbing Victoria Peak to raise funds for this summer camp. I didn't really have to think about it. I just thought you know if it is going to raise funds for B.C.V.I. and for all the other children that need the equipment. You know, why not? Let's do it."
Alex Ellis
Alex Ellis
"This is day one of our attempt up Victoria Peak. I, myself, Alex Ellis, will be climbing along with Joe Garel and his son, Rowan, who is the youngest and only person with any form of disability to attempt Victoria Peak. The hope today is that we make it to kilometers nineteen which is generally the first rest point on any expedition to Victoria Peak."
Although goodbyes were shared, mother and sister are not yet ready for the cub to leave the fold. They follow a short distance for one more goodbye. So while crossing the Sittee River, Rowan's journey begins.
Joe Garel, Father
Joe Garel
"We're at 12K right now; we're just across the Sittee Branch and it's just starting to get some of the hills. The road's been very good. This is where we normally end up for lunch the first day hike. So he is keeping up with just about anybody else who has done this trip-the usual pace that people keep. So that's pretty impressive. We'll see what happens when we hit the hills after this because from here it starts getting hillier.
I'm feeling it. I mean the pack is a little bit heavier than I'm used to. My pack is just under sixty pounds. I try keep it around forty, but I'm packing for me and him and you know a few extra things. So it's taxing."
Because the trek is arduous, the team briefly rests at kilometer thirteen, while grabbing a Spartan snack, the team reboots. The journey from that location to kilometer nineteen, the first campsite, means leaving established trails. This is where forest, god's earth and flora reign without human cultivation. The journey now is predominantly off-trail.
Alex Ellis
"It's currently ten past five on the first day of climbing. Behind me if you look-it's kinda covered in clouds at the moment-you can see the third tip, the highest peak. It's been a tedious day of climbing-much more than I expected. My leg cramped up a couple times, but still here, still going. Joe and his son are somewhere behind us; they should be coming up this mountain shortly. We are almost about 18K, about one more to go then we will rest for the night and hopefully leave early in the morning and make summit sometimes around ten a.m."
The morning after the first leg of the journey, Rowan sleeps in his hammock while his father, Joe, prepares a meal of sausage and bread. The guides also prepare white rice which contains all the carbs that they will burn throughout the day.
Rowan Garel
"I got lots of rest."
Alex Ellis
"How was the sleeping in the hammock? What was that experience like?"
Rowan Garel
"It was comfortable. I didn't find it much different from sleeping in an ordinary bed."
Alex Ellis
"It's just after seven on day two on our climb to Victoria Peak which is kilometer nineteen. It was a bit of a rough night. Unlike everyone else who were smart to bring hammocks, I brought a sleeping bag and had to kind of rough it on the floor. Spent most of the nights picking ticks off my body-fun!"
Rowan Garel
"I don't feel cramped or soared or stiff or anything. I actually feel like I could continue."
The boy's senses of hearing and touch are his eyes on the journey.
Joe Garel
"What's the best thing so far?"
Rowan Garel
"Probably the birds that I hear."
Joe Garel
"That's one thing that he can appreciate-he can't see the birds, but he can hear them and appreciate the calls. And I listen to tapes; he listens to some as well over the years. And I'll forget half of them and he still remembers them so he probably remembers more of them than I do."
A short water break is required on the journey. Though physically tired, sheer determination takes over and the ascent continues.
On Wednesday night we premiered the first part of twelve year old Rowan Garel's trek to Victoria Peak. Climbing to Victoria Peak is a difficult feat for any healthy adult, but Rowan it appeared might have been hindered by the fact that he can't see. Blindness, as you will see in the second part of his journey, played no role in his ascent to the second highest peak in the land. News Five's Cameraman Alex Ellis joined Rowan on the journey and here's his report.
Alex Ellis, Reporting
A short water break is required on the journey. Though physically tired, sheer determination takes over and the ascent continues.
Joe Garel, Father
Joe Garel
"Right now we are about roughly 21K. We started at 19K this morning. We got off to a late start at probably around seven. We wanted to start six, but we started an hour late, seven o'clock. It's been steep all day, no flat anymore and each ravine just keeps getting steeper and steeper. It's kinda stuff starting because the muscles aren't warmed up yet and they are a little sore from yesterday-not too bad. This is where it breaks you down because most people get up this morning and it is the toughest morning to deal with and you could easily give up. Once you get through the first hour of this, your muscles warm up and you feel like you can go all day again. And that is Rowan."
Alex Ellis
"How you feel Ro?"
Rowan Garel
Rowan Garel
"I feel ok and I can do this I think. I just fall down a lot, but I can do it. This morning when we started, I felt a little stiff-my legs felt a little stiff-but they became relaxed after a while and I felt like I could go for six years."
{Shots of the climb}
Rowan Garel
"It's getting very steep now. We are at 25K. We only have two more left but it is getting really steep and slippery. I drop almost every time I try to find a foot hold. I slip for quite a ways, so that was very easy."
Alex Ellis
"How you feel physically?"
Rowan Garel
"Kind of tired."
Alex Ellis
"You have enough for the next two?"
Rowan Garel
"Umm, I think so."
Joe Garel
"It's very treacherous because a lot of time you are on ledges and it is very slippery and muddy going across the rocky ravine bottoms and that kind of stuff. So I am more concerned with him than with everything else around me. You know I normally watch the trees and the birds, but if you turn around and look right up here, you can see the edge of Victoria Peak."
Alex Ellis
Alex Ellis
"It's now ten to twelve. We have been walking since about seven this morning and this is actually the base of Victoria Peak. This is where we start the actual ascent."
Rocks, boulders, danger, even for Joe. Going up means falling down. It's a simple illustration of life's lessons learned about moving forward, even if the obstacle before your face is a mountain. No giving up; what one man can do another can do.
Joe Garel
"We're probably about half-way from the base where we start hiking up to the top of the peak. We stopped to have lunch where it is about one-ten right now. And we are just trying to get some shade because from here on up it's all in the sun. I think another forty-five minutes or so we should be on top. This is the toughest part."
Alex Ellis
"How are you feeling?"
Rowan Garel
"I'm feeling ok. I think I can do it, but my pants is wet and I don't really like that, but I'll survive."
Alex Ellis
"It was a bit tough coming up those last rocks."
Rowan Garel
"Yes it was tough because it was slippery and some of the rocks were shifting so that was difficult."
Emerging from a canopy gives a feeling of accomplishment. The cliff edges are a constant reminder of the risks below. Now near the end, father and son are one; Joe takes Rowan on his back as they tackle the steep and climb.
Three thousand six hundred and seventy five feet high looks out to one hundred and twenty-eight acres of the Cockscomb Basin wildlife Sanctuary. Walt Whitman once said "I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey work of the stars." And so after 2 days of walking and sleeping amongst hundreds of species of plants, listening to tropical birds and wildlife; looking into the horizon, I believe that this view spawned from the growth of this mountain is no less than the evolution of our Milky Way. The inspiration, however, bows to the personal story of father and son.
Rowan Garel
"I'm glad I made it. Before-this is strange-I was exhausted when I was coming up but right now I feel like I can fly. I just feel-there is not words to explain how I fell right now."
Joe Garel
"To start with, being visually impaired doesn't mean you have a major handicap. That's what B.C.V.I. actually taught us. I have no clue how to raise a blind child and B.C.V.I. taught us and one thing that they really showed us and really impressed us with is that they have pushed all these years to integrate blind children into regular school settings from day one. So Rowan has gone through the entire school system so far from his first day of ABC right up until he is in standard five right now in a regular school and excels. He does really well. I'm gonna take away more from this than he will to be honest with you and he is the one constantly teaching us. He has overcome so many obstacles that we never dreamt he would have. We've learned more from him than him from us all these years. I mean the first time I asked him about this, it was no doubt-he said he wants to do it. No question; if I think he'd make it or if…no, no! it was definitely yeah, let's go."
Rowan Garel
"If I can do it, they could definitely do it. And I want people to know that I didn't just do this for fun, I did this as a fund raiser for the Belize Council for the Visually Impaired, B.C.V.I., because they lost some major donors last year and we really want to help raise funds for their summer camp because people come from all over Belize: Corozal, P.G., Cayo. So they don't really get a chance to travel outside their little village. So we just want to let them continue having this summer camp."
After four days of being in the wild, Rowan is greeted by his family. The boy who thought he might be able to climb a mountain, returned knowing that he can accomplish anything. Alex Ellis for News Five.
Ellis will be discussing the climb on Friday morning's Open Your Eyes.
Remember brave 12-year-old Rowan Garel? He is the inspirational and brave visually impaired boy who climbed Belize's second highest peak. On March 25, 2011, at approximately 2:30pm, Belize Council for the Visually Impaired (BCVI) received a call from Rowan and his father Joe who had just arrived at the summit of Victoria Peak. Overwhelmed, exhausted and delighted, Rowan and Joe had done the trek to the top in just over one day, which is the average time it takes to reach that point.
Well here is a video interview of Rowan as he completed his climb to the summit of Victoria Peak. His mission: to raise funds for BCVI so that they can send other visually impaired children to summer camp.
"At no point in time, not one single time, did he complain," Joe said of his brave son. Rowan recalls wanting to give up, "I thought about it, but I didn't want to be remembered at the only blind person to try and then turn around and not make it." This driven 12-year-old is not only the youngest to ever summit Victoria Peak, but is also the only person with any type of disability to accomplish this feat.
"I want people to know I didn't just do this for fun! I did this as a fundraiser for the Belize Council for the Visually Impaired." - Rowan Garel
Support Rowan and spread the word as BCVI is still seeking donations for Summer Camp and to help support the children who are blind and visually impaired! You can make your donations at the BCVI Belize Bank account 71096, mail it to BCVI, PO Box 525,Lions Building, Princess Margaret Drive, Belize City, Belize (Phone: 501-636-1130 or US Vonage: 504-322-7064) or you can go to bcvi.org and make a donation online.
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